Cillian Murphy is the first Irish-born actor to win Best Actor
While Daniel Day-Lewis has won Best Actor three times (for My Left Foot, There Will Be Blood, and Lincoln), he was born in England, with dual British-Irish citizenship. If Cillian Murphy wins for his titular role in Oppenheimer, he’ll become the first Irish-born actor to win Best Actor.
Of note, other Irish-born actors have won Academy Awards: Barry Fitzgerald got Best Supporting Actor in 1944 for Going My Way; and Brenda Flicker won for My Left Foot in 1989. But that’s it!